Man City told they "dodged a bullet" as Ronaldo "causing problems" at Man Utd

Trevor Sinclair claims Manchester City dodged a bullet in their failed attempt to sign Cristiano Ronaldo as he believes the Portugal star is "causing problems" across the other side of the city.

Pep Guardiola's were on the verge of signing the forward from Juventus in the summer as an alternative to Harry Kane, before Manchester United swooped in at the last minute to re-sign their former player.

Ronaldo has enjoyed an impressive individual campaign, scoring 14 of his side's 29 goals across all competitions, but United have struggled as a team as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faced the sack earlier in the year.

Ralf Rangnick has come in to replace the Norwegian and, although it's early days, the situation hasn't improved as the Reds Devils suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Wolves.

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And despite Ronaldo's impressive strike rate in front of goal so far this season, he has received the brunt of the criticism as his critics feel his presence is negatively impacting his teammates.

Former City player Sinclair is one individual that holds this viewpoint and reckons Guardiola's men got away with one failing to sign Ronaldo.

He told talkSPORT : "I'm starting to think that Manchester City dodged a bullet by not signing Cristiano.

"I really think that. You look at some of the players who are really struggling for form at Man United, [Jadon] Sancho, [Marcus] Rashford.

"He's got to know his role. You're a footballer, hired by the football club, keep your mouth shut at times - that's what you've got to do."

Sinclair, who made 98 appearances for Man City and 12 for England, also believes Ronaldo has too much influence in the Old Trafford dressing room which is hurting United as a club.

He added: "I think Ronaldo's causing a lot of problems at the football club.

"Not just his lack of goals in recent times but the fact that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 's gone, and then Michael [Carrick] went in and dropped him for a game.

"I just feel it's been one of those signings where it's looked good, but it's far from good.

"For me, one of the reasons I think he may not have considered Manchester City - and it wasn't trophies, because he would have won silverware there - is because he didn't want to be second fiddle to Pep [Guardiola].

"Whereas he could go into United and almost feel like he could bully Ole a little bit, obviously Carrick was a stand-in manager, and then Rangnick has gone in there.

"I think he just wants to do what he wants and what's best for him, and it's not the best for the club."